Holiday and family visit

You need a visa for your stay in the Netherlands. More information on which documents are required when applying for a visa can be found in the checklist. 

In addition, you must comply with the following conditions:

• You have a valid travel document, for example a passport. The travel document still has to be valid for 3 months after the end of the visa period. It can also not be older than 10 years.
• You are not a threat to public order, national security or the international relations of one of the Schengen countries.
• You have a travel purpose in the Netherlands. For example a hotel reservation or an invitation from a sponsor in the Netherlands. This sponsor has a valid residence permit or is a Dutch citizen. The sponsor uses the form Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation.
• You have sufficient financial means for your stay in the Netherlands, the transit and/or the return trip:
• You have at least €55,- per person per day for the duration of your stay in the Netherlands; or
• Someone in the Netherlands sponsors your stay financially. This could be the sponsor inviting you, but also a random third person. The sponsor who supports your stay financially has sufficient and sustainable income. Usually the sponsor can sponsor 2 adults (+ 2 children). But the embassy or consulate deciding on the visa application in the end decides how many people may be sponsored financially by one sponsor.
  
• You have a travel (medical) insurance in your name. You take out the insurance in your country of origin (or another country). The sponsor inviting you can also take out an insurance for you in the Netherlands.
  The insurance covers at least €30,000,- for medical expenses in the Netherlands/Schengen Area, including the following expenses:
• Costs for repatriation to your country of origin due to medical circumstances.
• Urgent medical care.
• Emergency treatment in the hospital.
• You have sufficient reasons to return to your country of origin or residence. For example, because you have work, (school-aged) children or your own home there. Having only a return ticket is not enough. 

What documents do you need when you apply for a visa abroad?

• A valid travel document, for example a passport.

• 2 passport photos. The passport photos must meet the Dutch passport photo requirements. You can find these at the website of the Government of the Netherlands .

• Supporting documents that show your travel purpose. For example:

• A reservation for a hotel or other accommodation; or

• An original form Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation. This form is filled out and signed by the sponsor in the Netherlands, who needs to have his signature legalised by the municipality. The validity of this legalisation is not determined by law.
  Are you planning to come to the Netherlands with more people? Your sponsor then has to fill in a form for each person separately.

• Documentary evidence showing you have sufficient financial means for your stay in the Netherlands, the transit and/or the return trip. For example:

• One or more bank statements, traveller's cheques or cash; or

• An original form Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation. This form is filled out and signed by the sponsor in the Netherlands, who will have to provide documents proving he has sufficient and long-term income.
  Does the sponsor work in paid employment? Add copies of: the labour contract, the 3 most recent salary slips, an employer's declaration and the sponsor's passport / (European) ID card / Dutch residence permit.
  Is the sponsor a self-employed worker? Add copies of: a recent extract of registration in the Commercial Register of the Chamber of Commerce, the most recent final assessment income tax from the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), a recent profit and loss showing the gross profit, and the sponsor's passport / (European) ID card / Dutch residence permit.
  The sponsor needs to have his signature legalised by the municipality. The validity of this legalisation is not determined by law.

Is the sponsor, who supports you financially, married? Then his spouse also has to sign the form. If the inviting person and the financial sponsor are not one and the same person, then both of them have to fill in and sign a separate form. This is because the form can only be used by one person at a time.

• A copy of the proof of a travel medical insurance. You have to show this document when you submit the application or when you collect the visa. This depends on the Dutch representation.

• Documentary evidence that show that you have sufficient reasons to return to your country of origin or residence. For example:

• An employer's declaration.

• Proof of enrolment at a school for your school-aged children.

• Proof of ownership of your own house and/or other immovable property.

• An option on or a (provisional) reservation of a return ticket. You generally show this when you collect the visa.

Please note! The Dutch representation may ask for more documentation, other than the aforementioned documents.

You have to have all official foreign documents legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German. 

​You apply for a visa to the Dutch representation in your own country (country of origin). Or, in the country you are living in with a valid residence permit (country of residence). You can  submit the visa application no sooner than 6 months before you wish to travel to the Netherlands. Persons who are  at sea for a long time for their work can apply for the visa from 9 months before departure.

You almost always have to apply for a visa in person. You can only have someone else submit your application if you have already submitted a photo and fingerprints within 59 months of your application

You often have to submit the visa application to an external agency: the external service provider (EDV), such as VFS Global of TLS Contact. This agency accepts the application and forwards it to the Dutch representation for the assessment.

In that case, apart from the costs of a visa application, you almost always pay an additional sum to the external service provider.

Please keep in mind that a visa application takes a lot of time. Therefore, apply for this on time. Never finalise the booking until you are certain you will get the visa.

Costs of the application

The application for a short-stay visa costs money. And sometimes you will have to pay external service providers as well.

The visa application is generally handled by one of the Central Support Offices (CSO) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some of the larger foreign representations handle the visa applications themselves.

The application is sometimes put before the Visa Service of the IND. The Visa Service then gives its recommendation to the CSO that ultimately makes the decision. 

The CSO checks to see whether you meet all the conditions. The CSO has to make a decision within a period of 15 days. If you have not received a decision after 15 days and you wish to know the status of your application, please contact the Dutch representation where the application has been submitted.
The period for making a decision may be extended up to 45 days if the application is put before the IND.

• Negative decision

  If you do not meet the conditions, you will not get a visa. This decision is given in the formal decision. You can apply for a review of this decision and/or submit a new application.
  

• Positive decision
  

  If you meet all the conditions, you will get a short-stay visa.

You can collect the visa at the Dutch representation where you submitted the application. A short-stay visa is a type C visa. It is placed as a sticker in your passport.

You may be checked again when you enter the Netherlands. The IND therefore recommends for you to bring with you all the information and documents you needed for the visa application.

You may apply for an urgent visa when you wish to visit family due to the death or terminal illness of a relative living in the Netherlands. An urgent visa is usually not a Schengenvisa and only allows access to the Netherlands.

You can only apply for an  urgent visa if you are a first- or second-degree family member of the person in the Netherlands who is terminally ill or has deceased. These include:

• Parents, children, siblings (brothers and sisters)
• Grandparents
• Brother- / sister-in-law, son- / daughter-in-law, parents-in-law
• Stepparents, stepchildren, stepbrother or -sister

A family member in the Netherlands has to call the IND for the application of the urgent visa. You then go to the Dutch representation yourself to submit the visa application.

• You must meet the following conditions:
• You have a valid travel document (for example a passport),
• You do not pose a threat to public order,
• You do not have an alert within the Schengen Area,
• You can show that you will return to your country of origin,
• You or a third person has sufficient means (money) to cover your stay in the Netherlands.

A short-stay visa is valid for up to 90 days. You will get the visa for the number of days that you indicated on your application.

The short-stay visa (type C) states:

• The starting date of the visa's validity (as of that day you may travel to the Schengen Area).
• The number of days you are allowed in the Schengen Area.
• The end date of the visa's validity (as of that day you must have left the Schengen Area).
• Whether you can travel once (single entry) or several times (multiple entry) to the Schengen Area with the valid visa.

Duration of stay

You can apply for a short-stay visa for one journey (single entry visa) or for more journeys (multiple entry visa). Both visas allow you to stay up to 90 days, within a 180-day period, in the Netherlands or another country in the Schengen area.

The  short-stay calculator on the website of the European Commission helps you calculate how many days you can still stay in the Schengen area after your entry. You can also use this calculator to plan your trip. The calculator is in the text under 'Harmonising rules and procedures'.

If you wish to work in the Netherlands during your short stay, your employer may need to have a work permit. Your employer has to apply this to UWV. This also applies if you perform voluntary work or an unpaid assignment.

You may also need to have a 'burgerservicenummer' (BSN). The municipality issues these numbers when you enlist in the Register of Non-Residents (RNI). For more information please check the website of the municipality where you live/work or www.government.nl.​

After the period of validity of your visa has ended you have to leave the Netherlands and the Schengen Area. If you fail to do so, you may get an entry ban for Europe. This does not apply to EU/EEA citizens and their family members.​

Extend Schengen visa

Only in very exceptional circumstances may you extend your Schengen visa or visa-exempt term. For example, when you are incapable of leaving the Netherlands due to a serious illness or due to circumstances beyond your control. You can extend your visa or permit-exempt term up to 90 days at the most. Your total stay may not exceed 90 days. You must also have enough money to support yourself. To apply for this, you must first make an appointment with an IND Desk.

Visa extension over 90 days for Surinamese nationals aged 60 and older

Do you have Surinamese nationality and are you aged 60 years or older? Once with every stay, you can extend your visa with a maximum of 90 (additional) days. You do not need a special reason for this. The extended visa is valid for the Benelux-countries only. To apply for this, you must first make an appointment with an IND Desk. 

Change single-entry to multiple-entry

You travelled to the Netherlands with a single-entry visa. You wish to change this to a multiple-entry visa. This is possible only in situations of circumstances beyond your control, humanitarian reasons, serious work related reasons or personal reasons that have risen after you arrived in the Netherlands. To apply for this, you must first make an appointment with an IND Desk.